“Investors remained wary of foreign investors’ recent moves to cut holdings in large-cap stocks in the local bourse, fearing that they will keep moving funds out of Taiwan,” Concord Securities (康和證券) analyst Allen Lin said.

In the financial sector, Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) fell 1.24 percent to NT$47.90 and Yuanta Financial Holdings Co (元大金控) lost 2.14 percent to end the day at NT$20.55.

Taiwan’s rating raised

BNP Paribas said it’s raising its rating for Taiwanese stocks and lowering its recommendation on Hong Kong, Indonesia and India, given the prospects for an interest-rate increase by the US Federal Reserve, the rise in inflationary pressures and the outlook for fund flows and earnings across Asia.

Taiwan was raised to “overweight” from “neutral” while the Hong Kong and Indonesia markets were cut to “neutral” from “overweight,” according to a report by Clive McDonnell yesterday. The strategist lowered India’s stock market to “underweight” from “neutral.”

Tex-Ray, Yueda arrange deal

Tex-Ray Industrial Co Ltd (南緯), a Taiwan-based textile maker, said yesterday that Yueda Textile Group (江蘇悅達) of China has decided to take a stake in its -subsidiary in Jiangsu Province.

Tex-Ray said Yueda would take a 40 percent stake in its Chinese subsidiary through a fund-raising plan that will boost the unit’s paid-in capital to US$30 million.

After the investment, Tex-Ray will retain a 60 percent stake in the Jiangsu unit, the company said.

Bank of Taiwan signs deal

The Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) yesterday signed a cooperation agreement with Bank of Nanjing Co (南京銀行), the Taipei-based lender said in an e-mail statement.

Bank of Taiwan will be able to offer yuan loans to Taiwanese companies in China through the tie-up with the Chinese lender, the statement said. The two banks aim to cooperate in areas including staff training and information sharing, the statement said.